Family members of Oregon native Troy Bachmann say he’s being held in a Mexican prison on false charges and has been there for months.

Bachmann grew up in the small town of Brightwood around the family’s fly fishing business in Welches. He graduated from Sandy High School and Oregon State University before deciding to go into business for himself.

Derek Bachmann says his older brother has been living and working in Mexico for the last 20 years, where he started four companies over the years. They include fly fishing ventures, a construction business and, most recently in 2012, Fancy Fresh Farms.

Derek says the trouble started earlier this year, when Troy hired a new bookkeeper.

He started noticing discrepancies in the accounting, and when he was in the U.S. on business, the woman drained his bank account and spread rumors that he planned to leave the country without paying his workers.

On May 19th, Derek says Troy got a call from his workers saying they wanted to meet to settle their differences.

“It was a complete trap,” Derek Bachmann told Fox 12. “When he got up there the police were pretty much waiting for him and they just cuffed him, didn’t tell him any reason why he was being arrested, didn’t allow him to make any kind of phone calls, they completely violated every constitutional – Mexican constitutional – rights.”

He’s been in the Venustiano Carranza Prison in Tepic, Nayarit ever since.

“Yeah, 114 days today,” Derek added. “He’s in a 5x10 cell with seven other people.”

Derek says Troy is being charged with agricultural fraud and is facing up to 84 years in prison, on counts that are completely false.

“The unfortunate thing is, I think, that he became so successful in his business that he became a target,” said Troy’s father, Mark Bachmann. “Here in the United States you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty. In this state in Mexico, you’re guilty until you’re proven innocent.”

Bachmann has a 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and a 9-month-old baby with his current wife, whom he met in Mexico. They are now safely back in the United States.

“[His wife] has been through so much, she’s been terrified,” Derek said.

His family has reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, the consulate in Guadalajara and congressional leaders, including Oregon Senator Ron Wyden.

Wyden’s office confirms they are working to get the situation resolved.

But Troy’s brother, Derek, is growing increasingly frustrated with how little seems to have been done to bring his brother home.

His family is now raising money for Troy’s legal defense and prison expenses. You can contribute online at https://fundly.com/friends-of-troy or in person at any US Bank Branch by referencing the account “Friends of Troy.”